In Part 1, I gave a potted history of my personal early experience in literature searching and toxicity data identification. Along with my colleagues of the same fine vintage, I weathered the storms of change, progressing from a time of back-strain (from carrying huge texts around) and index finger wear (turning pages) to dial-up and then to web-based searching. The pace of information retrieval accelerated, as did client expectations on turnover times. On the other hand, I no longer spent hours writing a report by hand and suddenly I owned a biro that would last for months rather than days. With your indulgence, I’d like to expand a little regarding TRACE and its value to clients and the bibra toxicologists.
The TRACE database was established in 1987 as a bolt-on tool to search the bibra databank of papers and reports. Over the last 60-or-so years, the latter has blossomed into an unrivalled databank of key documents on the health effects of chemicals that might be encountered in consumer products, foods, drinks, packaging, textiles, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, pet foods, workplaces, hospitals or the general environment. Related national/international regulations/guidelines/standards also feature highly. Documents selected for inclusion are identified by our specially-trained toxicologists who regularly and systematically screen the official publications and websites of government departments and expert groups, as well as a large number of peer-reviewed toxicology and nutrition journals and secondary sources. Unlike any comparable on-line database, TRACE is uniquely equipped to identify key toxicity reviews and opinions issued by expert organisations from around the world, thus enabling a rapid and robust insight into a chemical's toxic potential.
In recognition of TRACE's important coverage of the toxicological literature, it has been listed as a valuable data source in the official European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Guidance on the identification of toxicity data for REACH purposes (ECHA, 2011). In a noteworthy pharmaceutical sector publication, TRACE was described as a valuable resource for conducting literature searches for carcinogenicity and mutagenicity data when assessing pharmaceutical impurities according to the ICH M7 guideline (Amberg et al., 2016). As early as 2000, an independent analysis recognised TRACE’s superiority over other available sources, as follows:
“The retrieval precision and recall of a specialist bibliographic toxicity database (TRACE) and a range of widely available bibliographic databases used to identify toxicity papers were compared. The analysis indicated that the larger size and resources of the major bibliographic databases did not, for a series of test queries, assure superior retrieval of relevant papers. The specialist database, TRACE, in which document selection and indexing is undertaken by the same expert toxicologists who use the database in their day-to-day work, achieved markedly better retrieval, using simpler search strategies, than the other databases. Specialist databases may offer a valuable alternative to the existing major bibliographic databases” (Anderson et al., 2000) and “An evaluation of toxicology information resources is reported, comparing commercial online databases and a specialised inhouse database [TRACE]. A mixed qualitative/quantitative approach, using 10 test queries and detailed failure analysis was used. The main conclusions are: the in-house database is superior to any ‘general’ database in recall and precision; commercial databases are a useful complement, usually providing unique material; a range of databases should be used for good recall; for the commercial databases, complex search strategies are necessary, using the specific access points of each database; retrieval failures are due primarily to coverage, secondly to poor indexing of specific toxic effect” (Robinson et al., 2000).
In our opinion, TRACE is still probably the most effective tool available for identifying documents critical to the toxicological risk assessor. With such an accurate information retrieval system, our consulting team can offer unrivalled efficiency and level of toxicological advice and support to our clients, and in an impressively timely manner if required. Using TRACE, we are able to expertly locate and summarise data according to client requirements, provide accurate information on the health effects of selected chemicals, identify specific documents speedily and efficiently, and prepare comprehensive bibliographic reference lists on defined issues. We can also bring an applied toxicology perspective to the interpretation of new guidelines, and assist with meeting the requirements for regulatory approvals on any aspects of health or safety legislation.
Of course, at the end of the day we remain experts at literature searching generally, and a range of bespoke current awareness services can also be provided, including regular updates of company-specific safety profiles on defined chemicals, and customised searches at agreed intervals for data on specified products. TRACE provides a rapid and efficient first step in literature identification.
Finally, to return to the original message of this two-parter, knowledge is power, certainly in the field of toxicological risk assessment. Using the best sources will optimise your risk assessment report.